Let’s face it. There’s a lot to be cynical about in our organizations. Since the pandemic upended our lives, there’s even more. During the pandemic, many of us had newfound autonomy to structure our days in ways that worked best for us. But now, this autonomy is being pulled back to satisfy leaders who are afraid of losing control. We are tethered to our electronic devices that demand constant attention. We tell people they need to be authentic as leaders. But for many of us who fail to recognize and accept that we are not always honorable, honest, unbiased, or even good people, the call to “be yourself” as a leader is awful advice (and better left to a different article on the topic of leader authenticity). In exchange for all of this, we offer mental health and wellness programs, like mindfulness training or 30 minutes of yoga at lunchtime only to return to our toxic workplaces.

Does the above sound cynical to you? I could offer a lot of bromides about being positive and displaying optimism, but the reality is that like never before, cynicism, an attitude that influences and infects the quality of our relationships, is spreading in our organizations, and ultimately impacts everything we do at work. 

In 2021, my co-author Kristyn Scott and I published a study exploring the impact of cynical attitudes on leaders and their followers. What we found was alarming. Whereas past research on cynicism treated it as if a lone cynic was grumbling in their cubicle, we found that a cynic is not a cynic alone. Our research demonstrates that cynical subordinates, colleagues, and leaders create a shared reality of cynicism. In other words, cynicism spreads like a virus. As Ricky Gervais once said, “Cynicism, to me, is trying to make people as unhappy as you are.”

Are you a cynic? Is your leader a cynic? If either of you expresses cynical attitudes, we end up constructing a shared and, as it turns out, quite cynical reality of what the organization is like. If that is the reality in your organization, is it any wonder that all of the organizational initiatives designed to help people succeed often fall flat? 

Few things are more challenging to a leader than working with cynical subordinates.

We know who they are…the skeptical facial expression, the deep sigh, the eye roll, and the ‘here we go again’ responses. People with cynical attitudes pollute the leader-subordinate relationship waters, are less loyal to their leaders, and in turn, leaders develop less positive relationships with them. Because we then create a shared reality, we in turn can become more cynical ourselves. It’s not surprising then that cynicism leads to lower job performance for all of us. We live up (or down) to the expectations others set for us and when cynicism takes hold, we all race to the bottom.

One natural response might be to try and eliminate cynics from our ranks. That in itself is a cynical reaction. Before we try and root out all the cynics, which, given that large and growing percentages of employees identify as cynical, would mean getting rid of the majority, let’s take a look at how we can engage in meaningful actions that identify and address the sources of cynicism in our organizations. 

Consider your own and your organization’s actions. Do they or have they perpetuated the belief that nothing has changed or that things are only getting worse? What will make things better? Referring to the example of yoga above, every health and wellness program on offer will not change the fact that your organizational or local culture is toxic.

Address the source of toxicity. Are you setting unrealistic or unclear performance expectations? Are you so afraid of losing control that you monitoring employees every action (electronically or otherwise)? Are you acting in ways that are authentic to your role as a leader or are you bringing all of your ‘authentic’ baggage to your role? Label it all and demonstrate why now is different. But you have to mean it. Your words and actions have to align in meaningful ways. If they don’t you are merely perpetuating the pandemic of cynicism spreading in our organizations.

Is this easy? No. Am I cynical about whether we can really change people’s cynical attitudes? Yes. You should be too. Once formed, attitudes are very hard to change and they spread quickly. But, if we are going to be authentic to our roles as leaders, we have to move beyond our inherent cynicism and try to create a new shared reality built on acknowledging what’s really wrong and focusing on how to change it.